Ensilage-remover for silos.



J. F. RUFF.

ENSILAGE REMOVER FOR SILOS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, i915.

1,174,524. Patented Mar. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETS$HEET l- 7'Tz'0f] Mil 2 7 22 awe/Who. 2 5 B Jo/zrz [Raff i 5 -3 1?} I I. m

attomwz o THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH Co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

J. F. RUFF.

ENSILAGE REMOVER- FOR SILOS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, 1915.

1,174,524. Patented Mar. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

73 J3 J i i Wibmoow v w attozvwago THE COLUMBIA PLAIjOuRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

UNITED srA'rEs r 'rENT OFFICE.

JOHN F. RUFF, or PETER-sense; INDIAI IA, assis-mm or ONE-FIEI'CI-ITQ wgL'rnx'tjoi wr lson, ONE TWENTYJ'IFTETO' Jenn M. wILsem o'NE TWENTY-FIF H 'ro Jos-EPH L. GRABLE, ONE TWEl 'TY-FI FTH To enonen M; Wl-IITK-KER, O-liTETWENTY-FIFTH mp WILLIAM A. STONECIPHER; AND one TWENTY-FIFTH- ro err-Anus E; swam:

cirnnn ALL of PETERSBURG, IliTDIANA.

sasitmassnovaa non sites.

Specification of Letters Patent.

1 Patentedlllar; i; iei.

mutate; nemesis 18, 191a strains: 153m- To all whom it may coi'wern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN F. RUFF, a citi zenof the United States, residing at Peters} bur ",in the county of Pike and State of Indiana, have invented certain new andu's'eful Improvements in Ensilage-Removers for Silos;- and' I' do declare the following to be a full, clea'r, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it ap ertainsto ni'a'ke' and use the same.

My invention relates broadly to" improvements in devices for lowering ensilage and the like, and more particularly to ap-' paratus of this class so constructed as to allow one person to remove tlfe necessary amount of ensila'ge. I

The object of the invention is to provide a machine of the class set forth" which, although being of very simple construction a'ncl iinder the control of a single operator,

will be very efficient ino eration and will readily perform the functions for which it is designed, v

With this object in view, the invention resides in certain novel fl'aa'ture's' of construct'ion and combination hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claim. In deseribing the invention, I shall refer to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters designate correspond" ingparts throughout the various views and 1 wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a silo showing the application-of the invention to use, all parts being shown'in their Fig. isa horizontal s'ection as seen alongthe plane indicated by the line 4-4; of Fig" 1; Fig. 5 is an edge view of the invention.

In these drawings, constituting a part of the application, B designates a concrete base from which a common type of silo S rises, this silo being provided at vertically spaced points with vthe usual doors D for removing the ensilage therefrom. The construction' at briefly at rear 'onstit'ut iid part of the present ifiventiombut is merely illustratedfor the purpose of disclosing the application thereof" to use; 7 a Risingfroin tlie base B and'dispesed advance :of' the-doors D, isa pair of upright parallelguide reils 1 whose. lewer ends are preferably anchored-inbase,'wh ile 9 upper endsa're connected-by a pan; of ho z'onta'l bars 2 which aresecuixed theretoe-n opposite sides'thereoebybolts 3 or other appropriate- -fasteiiersi It will-noted that the bars 2 project, laterally beyond one of the rails 1,'-and mat-these piej e'cting ends Carry bearings 4 in which thesha'ftf' of a pulley 5 is revoliibly mounted, hile the in:

termediate portions O f'the bars starry s'imi-j lar bearings 4 in which the shaft of .an additional pulley 5 is revolutily; mounted .1

Mounted to slide vertically between" guide' ra'ils' I, is'xa car 6which includ 1 horizontal platform 7 and an arched name" 8 rising therefrom, tli cross bar 9 of" this frame being providedwith] as eye-belt' or the like 10 'to' which one end'of a c'able l l is secured, this cable being passed over} the two pulleys Sand e? and being sec'u red t6 a" weighted body 12 at itsother en f'chf bod being of weight" gi'eater tH of the" car. In fact, thebody I2" is weight suflici'ent' to raise; thecar 6; erson standing-thereon many desired p6- siti'on, in which position the car may" be frictional-1y locked by the provision of-bfaI-ke" shoes 13 which" carried by' the V cranks" 14 of a horizontal [shaft 15 the latter being rotatably' mounted in' appropriate bearings; 16 carriedby the bar Qand being i0'vi'rl'e'jd' with a) hand" lever 17 forced downi'iv'ai clly by a coil spring 18*,oneenddf' which is se-j cu'red'totlie lever 17 while its other endis anchored to one of the side" bars of the arched frame 8. By the provision of the spring 18,- the 'sho'es'13' are normally forced" into contact with the guide rails 1, thus preventing the weighted body 12 from raising the car either from its lowermost posi tion or from one of its raised positions, wherein it is so disposed as to allow ensilage to be loaded thereon from one of the doors D.

In addition to'the parts above described,

the sides of the car are provided with U- shaped guides 19 which slide upon the rails 1, these guides being disposed at any suitable points. Furthermore, a metal bar 20 is secured to the side of the bar 9 opposite the shaft 15, said bar 20 projecting beyond the ends of said bar 9 to provide additional friction shoes 21 which are forced to bind against the rails 1 when the shoes 13 are forced into contact with said rails. As hereinbefore suggested, the car 6 normally stands in lowered position as shown in Fig. 1, in which position it is frictionally retained against the power of the body 12, by the brake shoes 13 and 21 above described. When, however, it'is necessary to remove ensilage from the silo, the person wishing to operate the machine steps upon the platform 7 and pulls upwardly on the lever 17, thereby releasing the shoes 13 and allowing the weighted body 12 to move downwardly, thus raising the platform. During-the upward movement of the latter, its speed and amount of travel is readily under the control of the operator who may allow the spring 18 to apply the shoes 13 when the necessary altitude is reached. He then positions a pair of stop,members 22 here shown in the form of pins, in certain openings 23 with which one of the rails 1 'is provided, said pins being then disposed above and below a stop member 24 which projects laterally from one side of the frame 8 past the openings 23. By this provision, it will be seen that under no circumstances can the car move either upwardly or downwardly. The operator now deposits a load of ensilage upon the platform 7 and, by releasing the brake shoes 13 and balancing the body 12 with. the ensilage, he may ascertain the exact amount desired, provided the body 12 be of the correct weight. During this operation, it is essential that some stop means such as the pins 22 and the member 24 be provided, since were no such provision made, themoment the shoes 13 were released, the car would move either upwardly or downwardlyaccording to the distribution of weight on the opposite ends of the cable. By the use of such stop means,

however, it will be evident that the car is allowed only a small amount of movement which is necessary in order that the operator may ascertain when the weight of the ensilage on the platform balances the weight of the body 12. He then applies the brake shoes 13, steps upon the platform 7 and releases said shoes ana'mount great enough to allow the car to travel downwardly at any preferred speed. When the car is in its lowermost position, the spring 18 is again allowed to apply the brake shoes 13,thus preventing the car from being moved upwardly by the body 12 after the ensilage has been removed.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be evident that although comparatively simple construction has been provided for carrying out the object of the in vention, the complete machine will be very eflicient in operation and will possess a number of advantageous features. Particular emphasis is laid upon the provision of the stop pins22 which are movable vertically to a number of predetermined points and which are insertible in any of the vertical series of openings 23 at points above and below the stop member 24:, regardless of the altitude of the latter.

I claim:

In a load lowering apparatus, a pair of substantially squared upright parallel guide rails having a plurality of series of vertically'spaced horizontal openings formed in one side of one of said guide rails, a normally lowered car comprising a horizontal platform and an arched frame rising therefrom, and movable vertically between the two guide rails, a stop member projecting laterally from one of the upright bars of said arched frame and extending beyond the aforesaid openings, a pair of stops movable verticallv to a plurality of positions and in sertible into the openings above and below the stop member on the car, whereby to limit both the upward and the downward movement of said car when loading the same, a pulley at the upper end of the rails, a cable passin over the pullev and secured at one end to the car, and a normally raised body secured to the other end of said cable and of a weight greater than that of the car.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN F. RUFF. Witnesses:

WALTER J. WILsoN, L. L. DEARING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

